UPDATE 3/1/24 1:40 p.m.
BIG RAPIDS — Investigators have determined the 69-year-old male, Keith Gale Totten, appeared to have died of natural causes prior to the fire being set. The 32-year-old male’s death was determined to be a suicide.
No further details will be released at this time.
2/28/24 6:45 p.m.
BIG RAPIDS — The Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a deadly mobile home fire that happened in Big Rapids Wednesday.
Multiple fire departments responded to a fire at a mobile home park located at Circle Drive on 185th Ave. around 9 a.m.
According to officials, two people were found dead inside of the trailer in different rooms. The names of the two men who have died have not yet been released.
Deputies said the fire started on the south side of the trailer and they are still trying to figure out what caused it.
The MSP Crime Lab has been called in to help with the investigation.
“The older gentleman may not have been the most mobile and based on where we found him, we don’t believe that that was the case. And the second one, based on circumstances and how we discovered him, doesn’t believe that there was any attempt to flee,” Sheriff Brian Miller from the Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies conducted a wellness check on the home in the weeks leading up to the fire.
